The neighbourhoods Ballymun (Dublin) en Knocknaheeny (Cork) in Ireland are among the most deprived of both their cities,
and the country as a whole.
For his PhD at University College COrk, Ireland, Sander van Lanen MSc (Master of Science, political geografy) conduceted an investigation among young adults in both
neighbourhoods.
Through interviews he establishes a qualitative understanding of the transformations of urban
life brought about by financial crisis and austerity.
Van Lanen argues the lifeworld of disadvantaged urban youth tightens as the opportunities
for employment, personal development and independent living decline through the changing
structural contexts of ‘austerity urbanism’. The relations youth has with their neighbourhood
and the city are transformed as the neoliberalising city excludes these youth
from ‘decent’ urban life and from the city itself.